On July 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a proposed rule that would reinstate the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime exemption for home care workers employed by...more
“Big Beautiful” Reconciliation Bill Pending Final Passage in the House Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed the reconciliation bill by a narrow vote of 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote....more
7/3/2025
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Job Creation ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
SCOTUS Curtails Nationwide Injunctions - The U.S. Supreme Court sharply curtailed “universal” injunctions. The Court’s June 27, 2025 decision came in a case involving an executive order seeking to limit birthright...more
6/30/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Judicial Authority ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
SCOTUS ,
Unions
Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on Labor Nominees; Announces Committee Votes -
On June 18, 2025, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on four nominees for a number of...more
Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Raise the Minimum Wage -
Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced legislation on June 10, titled “Higher Wages for American Workers Act of 2025,” that would raise...more
U.S. Department of Labor Expands Opinion Letter Program -
In an effort to increase official guidance and provide compliance assistance to the regulated community, the U.S. Department of Labor expanded its opinion letter...more
Chairs Walberg (R-MI) and Allen (R-GA) Seek Feedback to Reform the LMRDA -
The House Committee on Education and Workforce Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Chair Rick...more
U.S. DOL Pauses Enforcement of Biden-era Independent Contractor Rule -
On April 29, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a press release announcing new guidance on how to determine employee or independent contractor...more
5/5/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
NLRB ,
Over-Time ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
President Donald Trump embarked on an aggressive agenda in the first 100 days of his administration, relying largely on executive orders and administrative action that appear designed to test the limit of the executive...more
4/30/2025
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Immigration Procedures ,
NLRB ,
Trump Administration
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior week....more
4/18/2025
/ Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Agencies ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Unions ,
Workplace Safety
At a Glance -
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior...more
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior week....more
3/24/2025
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
Trump Administration
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior week....more
3/17/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Workweek ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior week....more
3/10/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
OCR ,
Title VI ,
Unions
A federal district court has held that Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board, was “illegally” fired from her job. The court ordered the Board’s current chair to restore her access to the Board and let...more
3/10/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Executive Orders ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Separation of Powers ,
Termination ,
Trump Administration
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior week....more
3/3/2025
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Transparency ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Small Business ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior week....more
We are pleased to present the Policy Week in Review (PWR) prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), the government relations and public policy arm of Littler. The PWR will set forth in one place WPI’s updates on...more
Among the first actions taken by the incoming administration was to rescind Executive Order (EO) 14055. Titled “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts,” EO 14055 required certain federal contractors to...more
On November 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated and set aside the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s final regulation increasing the salary threshold for the “white collar” overtime...more
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a limited injunction of the U.S. Department of Labor’s new regulations increasing the minimum salary that certain executive, administrative,...more
On Friday, June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Chevron, USA Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council. Chevron often required courts to defer to federal agencies when those agencies were interpreting statutes they...more
7/1/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The U.S. Department of Labor released a final rule on April 23, 2024, raising the salary threshold to qualify for certain overtime exemptions under federal law. Most importantly, it significantly raises the minimum salary...more
4/24/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Labor Reform ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule on January 9, 2024, defining “independent contractor” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The final regulation rescinds a 2021 rule defining the same term. In place...more
1/9/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
Federal appropriations are set to expire at midnight (ET) on Saturday, September 30. Unless lawmakers agree to a spending plan before then, much of the federal government will shut down....more
10/2/2023
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Shutdown ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Agencies